Sledge hammers



April 18, 19 J. w. WILLIAMSON SLEDGE HAMMERS Filed Jan. 12. 1959 INVENTOR James W. Williamson arn State t SLEDGE HAMMERS James Williamson, P.O. Box 93, Tahoe City, Calif.

Filed 12111.12, 1959, Ser. No; 786,280

Claims.. c1. 145-29 ,This invention relates to improvements in sledge hammerihead' construction. The object of this invention is to provide an improved sledge hammer head which is particularly valuable in the protection of hammer handles which are subject to breakage upon impact with unyielding objects such as wedges, rocks, piling, and like objects with which such tools are often used.

Heretofore, users of sledge hammers have been troubled by handlebreakage occasioned upon impact with rocks, wedges, piling, and like object's. The'consequent' loss of time, added cost, and inconvenience, caused by the need to replace handles, has beena substantial problem. It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved sledge hammer head which is provided with a shielding mechanism designed to enclose and protect the handle portion adjacent the head which is the part of the handle most often destroyed.

It is a further object of the present invention to improve sledge hammer heads and to provide improved heads which do not add appreciably to the cost of production and which have no adverse elfect upon the normal usage of the tool.

A more specific object is to provide a sledge hammer of the character briefly alluded to above and in which the cross-section of the shield enclosing the handle portion adjacent the hammer head defines a relatively doublepointed end oval configuration.

One purpose of this construction is to provide surfaces steeply inclined to the plane of the arc in which the hammer head swings whereby should the head miss the work object, the chances are relatively good that the shield will strike the objecta glancing blow only, and will veer away to one side or the other of the object.

Another advantage of making the shield oval shape is that it rigidifies and strengthens the shield in the plane in which it is designed to withtsand maximum impact forces.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reference to the accompanying specification and drawings in which similar characters of reference represent corresponding parts in the several views. 7

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevationalview provided with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. .1 and partly broken away and partly in section; and

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 33 of Fig. l.

The essence of the present invention is the provision of a guard orshield in the form of a tubular sleevelike member or collar, which is carried rigidly by the hammer head and depends from the bottom .thereof to The tubular shield. or sleeve is dimensioned and proportioned to be of greater inside. diameter than the outside diameter of the handle with which thehead is used. Thus, the shield 'or collar, formed of heavy gauge steel or like metal, acts as a barrier against unwanted impact of the handle shaft with an unyielding object. i It is of utmost importance in the present invention to appreciate that the tubular sleeve-like, shield member forms no part of the support of the handle as has been the case'in devices of the past In the present case the inside diameter of the sleeve-like shield is of greater diameter than the handle and of greater diameter than the handle bore, and actually provides a substantial space between the inside of the Sleeve and the wood or other material composing the handle in order that there is no translation of impact with a rock, wedge, or the like.

Referring to Fig. 1, the hammer head is indicated at 2 and may be ofconventional design as applied to a percussion tool. Depending from the handle-receiving bore 3 and spaced circumferentially outwardly therefrom, as at 4','is a depending elongate 'flange, collar, or sleeve indicated generally at 5. The sleeve orflange 5 is generally tubular in structure and formed of a comparatively heavy gauge steel or like metal sufficient to resist impact of the hammer against a rock or the like.

his to be noted that the tubular shield member 5 is spaced outwardly from the handle indicated at 6 so that any impact against the shield member will not be conveyed or translated to the material forming the substance of the handle. Generally speaking, about /8" of an inch) between the inside diameter of the sleeve-like guard member 5 and the material of the handle is preferred, though this distance may be varied in accordance with the desires of the user or manufacturer.

5 and the handle should be suflicient that there is no contact.

The length of the depending tubular guard member 5 may vary also inaccordance with the desires of the .manufacturer but as a rule of thumb should be at least as long asthe depth of the hammer head. That would ordinarily be the danger area.

In the preferred embodiment, the tubular shield is made in the shape of a pointed double-end oval defining opposite pairs of surfaces 5a and 5b that are divergent to one another and that are steeply inclined with reference to the striking axis of the hammer headi.e., the plane through which the hammer is swung against the work object. i

A primary advantage in this feature of construction is that should the hammer be swung through its normal of a hammer head are and miss the work object, the chances are relatively good that if the shield strikes the object, it will hit a glancing blow against either one of the surfaces 5a or 5b A further advantage of the oval shape of the shield is that the construction stilfens and strengthens the shield in a plane paralleling the axis of a hammer head which,

' of course, is the plane in which the shield should be enclose a substantial portion of the handle of the tool with which the head is used. The part of the handle or shaft which is enclosed is that which isproximate the handle head and which is the portion of the handle normally destroyed or damaged upon impact with an unyielding object such as a rock, piling, wedge, or the like.

designed to withstand the greatest impact forces.

The metal .forming the guard may either be integral 5 and is prevented from transmission to the handle and hands of the user.

y In any event, the space between the inside of the guard member Though the invention has been described in reference to a sledge hammer, it may of course be applied to other percussion tools, such as hand hammers and axes and other similar tools of varying weights and uses.

The invention has application broadly to the protection of handles of percussion-type tools and is limited only by the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A hammer construction comprising a hammer head, a bore in said head to receive a handle, a handle disposed in said bore, a handle guard carried rigidly by said head comprising a tubular sleeve-like member being in the form of a pointed double ended oval in cross-section and oriented with its major axis substantially in vertical alignment with the longitudinal axis of the hammer head formed of heavy gauge metal depending from said head and enclosing said handle, said guard having internal diameters substantially greater than the diameters of said handle bore and positioned to be out of contact with said handle throughout its length.

2. A hammer according to claim 1 and wherein the guard is of a length at least equal to the length of the handle bore provided in said head.

3. A hammer construction comprising a hammer head having a handle bore therein and a depending tubular shield carried rigidly by said hammer head and spaced circumferentially outwardly from said bore; and a handle secured in said bore; said shield surrounding and protectively housingthe portions of the handle adjacent 4- the head and spaced outwardly from said handle throughout its length; said shield defining in cross-section a relatively unrounded or pointed double end oval oriented parallel to the axis of the hammer head.

4. In a hammer head of the type for use with a handle and having a bore formed therein to receive the handle: the improvement comprising a guard member rigidly carried by the hammerhead comprising a hollow open ended member formed of metal and spaced circumferentially outwardly from the periphery of said bore and substantially coaxial thereto, said guard being dimensioned to surround a portion of the handle used with the head and in spaced, non-contact relationship therewith.

5. A hammer construction comprising a hammer head having a handle bore therein and a depending shield member carried rigidly by said hammer head and spaced circumferentially outwardly from said bore; and the handle secured in said bore; said shield surrounding and protectively housing the portions of the handle adjacent the head and spaced outwardly from said handle throughout its length.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Sept. 14, 1948 

